At Mylene's for a family dinner. Two of her children are studying culinary arts...the menu was awesome!

This is the home of our new friend Mylene Evangelista and the SUV she loaned us for almost two weeks over the holidays while she spent a family holiday in Manila. The home is still a work in progress. The roof is actually a full patio.

Entertaining our friends Doug and Marla on an evening by the Sea.

...and now it's time for a refreshing swim in the warm, salty Carmotes Sea behind our resort. Look Mom, no hands!

The brown patches are actually culivated fields. On these steep slopes I have enquired before regarding erosion but they say it's not a big problem...I can't imagine but not only in Cebu but also in Northern Luzon where we are more familiar many slopes are cultivated but some are also terraced. I have to assume that the terraces were created to solve a problem...

If you look closely roads appear non-existent but several homes are visible accessable only by walking trails or two wheeled tracks.

Now back to our holiday in Cebu...this was on our tour of the Island. The centre of the island is quite rugged and moderately mountainous terrain. It is suprising how many people live even on these slopes...along the road but also you can see homes and shantys all through the hills.

Just to show you that the Exit Conference did happen, here is the one picture that I have so far been able to source. It seems a number of our pictures have been buried in Windows Media Player and I can't seem to import them into Picasa...help anyone!!

We did have a good exit leaving behind a number recommendations to be followed up; a fresh milk feeding program, appointment of a Provincial Dairy Production Specialist, creation of a Provincial Demo Dairy farm, and policies for potential dairy farm entrepreneurs.

We have had a few follow-up requests from existing farmers and land owners showing interest in a dairy future. As one farmer cattle raiser suggested, "dairy is a shining star that must be developed for the benefit of all Filipinos".
I couldn't agree more and hope that in the not to distant future there will be bright evidence of that 'shining star'.